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Our work for the Lord is to teach and perfect others, so we must have a change in concept. When we teach others, we do not hold back what we know. Rather, we do our best to impart all that we know into others. We do not have secrets that we keep from the saints in fear of their excelling in the service and becoming better than us.
In spiritual matters we must give to others and not reserve anything for ourselves. The spiritual principle is that those who give more gain more. Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you.” Water must first flow out of a pipe in order for more water to flow in. The amount of water that flows in is determined by the amount of water that flows out. We should not say that if we give to others, we will have nothing left. The more we endeavor to give to others, the more we will be given.
In the fall of 1933 I went to Shanghai for the first time to observe and learn how to serve the Lord. At that time Brother Nee bore the responsibility for the local church in Shanghai. I had just resigned from my job and begun to serve full time. During my stay of nearly four months, Brother Nee did not conduct any special training meetings. He did not tell the serving ones what to do. During that time I had only brief fellowship with him; sometimes I went to see him, or he came to see me.
Brother Nee usually gave a message in the Lord’s Day morning meeting, and we all enjoyed listening to him. Once, about five or ten minutes before the Lord’s Day meeting, I received a note from Brother Nee that said, “Brother Witness, please give the message this morning.” The saints in the meeting had already begun to sing hymns. While they prayed, I waited for Brother Nee. When he did not show up, I had no alternative but to go up to the podium and give a message.
I did not know until later that Brother Nee stood behind the door and listened to my message. I did not see him and thought that he was not in the room. I did not know that he would ask me to speak, until I received the note. This kind of training was quite severe, but it was also beneficial to me.
On one hand, we should not be afraid to let others serve, but on the other hand, we should watch them; that is, we must oversee. Sometimes Brother Nee did not correct me directly; instead, he would speak to Sister Ruth Lee. One Lord’s Day morning I spoke on abiding in the Lord. After the message Brother Nee told Sister Lee, “Concerning abiding in the Lord, the word abiding is not so important, but the word in is very important. You must see in; otherwise, regardless of how hard you try, you cannot abide. Only when you see that you are in the Lord can you abide in the Lord.” Sister Lee received much benefit from this. Brother Nee knew that I had contact with Sister Lee and that she would convey his word to me. Later, Brother Nee wrote a hymn concerning the vine (Hymns, #561), in which the vine typifies our being in Christ. The light of the truth in this hymn is very clear. Once we see that we are “in,” we can do nothing but abide, because we are already in the Lord. If we do not see that we are already in the Lord, we will be unable to abide, no matter what we do.
Brother Nee also asked me to give gospel messages. Shortly before a meeting I received a note that said, “Brother Witness, please give the gospel message tonight.” This was shortly after I had arrived in Shanghai, and I did not understand his way of doing things. I thought that he was either too busy or sick and could not make it to the meeting and had therefore asked me to take his place. However, he was not sick. While I spoke from the podium, he stood behind the door listening to the message.
That day I received light from the Lord and spoke on John 16:8, which says, “When He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment.” In that message I said that concerning sin is a matter related to being in Adam, concerning righteousness is a matter related to being in Christ, and concerning judgment is a matter related to Satan. I said that there are three main persons in the universe: Adam, Christ, and Satan. “If you are in Adam, your end will be with Satan, but when you are transferred out of Adam into Christ, your relationship with Satan is broken. Hence, today you must realize that you are in Adam and that you have no alternative but to move out of him. If you are not transferred into Christ, one day you will suffer eternal judgment with Satan. Concerning sin relates to the fact that you were born a sinner in Adam. When you are transferred into Christ, you are justified. Justification is a matter of being in Christ. If you do not make such a transfer, one day you will share God’s judgment on Satan; you will be with Satan in the lake of fire.”
A few weeks later Brother Nee and I went for a walk. While we were walking, he turned suddenly to me and said, “Brother, not many in China today know the Bible. That day your speaking on sin, righteousness, and judgment was excellent. It is not so easy to see these points.” Upon hearing this, I was shocked. I did not know that he was listening to my message. This was how he trained me; he was truly good at perfecting others.
In 1934 a turmoil arose in the church in Shanghai because of Brother Nee’s marriage. As a result of the turmoil, Brother Nee left Shanghai. One day the three elders in the church in Shanghai came to me and asked me how to handle a difficult situation. I told them that I did not know how to handle it. They said I should bear the responsibility for the church in Shanghai because before Brother Nee departed, he said that in regard to the work and all the affairs in the church in Shanghai, they should ask Brother Lee. However, Brother Nee never mentioned this to me. This was his way of training. Hence, we should not be afraid of handing things over to others. After we hand things over, we should stand behind and watch the situation. This will enable us to see how well the person is doing. On one hand, we should hand things over, and on the other hand, we should watch to see what is being done.
Learning to drive a car is a good example. When a person is learning to drive a car, his teacher sits next to him and hands the car over to him. However, the teacher is more alert than the driver. When they encounter a dangerous situation, the teacher is the first to recognize the danger. In spite of this, the teacher must allow the student to react, because the car has been handed over to him. Then the teacher may need to provide further training. If a teacher is afraid and never gives the car to a student, the student will never have the opportunity to learn to drive. Similarly, the teacher will never learn any lesson related to how to train a student.
I am thankful to the Lord that when I first arrived in Shanghai, Brother Nee gave me many opportunities to learn. For example, I had never done any literature work before that time, and neither had I been to his bookroom. However, he perfected me in the literature work. First, he perfected me in responding to letters. The saints and churches often wrote to Brother Nee asking him questions. Sometimes he would give me these letters and ask me to reply on his behalf. These letters contained more than greetings; they contained specific questions. Second, Brother Nee made me an editor of some of his publications, such as Collection of Newsletters. Third, he allowed me to edit articles in the magazine The Christian. After being in circulation for several years, this magazine was stopped for a period of time. When the magazine resumed publication, he asked me to bear the responsibility of the editor. He handed me the task and stood behind to train me. This is the way we should perfect others in order to produce useful ones. If we do everything by ourselves from beginning to end, there will be no one to continue the work after we die.
In order for a trade to grow and expand, it must train apprentices. Therefore, the co-workers must have a thorough change of concept. The brothers in the larger cities have been listening to messages for ten to twenty years. Hence, they should be experienced and able to handle things. The saints in the churches in Taiwan are good resources to whom we can hand over the affairs of the church. It is the Lord’s sovereignty and His mercy that we have encountered problems and suffered a loss in recent years. For nearly ten years we were engaged in a battle, both in the East and in the West, concerning the truth and ground of the church. Now the saints are finally clear in regard to the ground of the church.
I once told a brother that it was a mistake for me to accept the suggestion of some brothers and invite Brother Austin-Sparks to come to us, because his visit caused a problem. The brother said that he did not consider it a mistake, because if not for that mistake, we would not have been engaged in a battle concerning the ground of the church, and we would not be able to speak clearly concerning this matter. The churches in this country and overseas are all clear about the truth concerning the ground of the church. This brother’s words surely gave me some comfort.
A young American brother, who had not had contact with us in the United States, came to a meeting in Taipei, because he heard that our meetings were based on the teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. However, he was not clear concerning the ground and the way of the church. During a Lord’s Day morning meeting, he spoke about how he came to be with us. Eventually, he said that every Christian group is the same. This statement sparked a burden in the saints. One after another, the saints stood up and testified concerning the truth with their experience. All the speaking clearly hit the points of the truth concerning the ground and the way of the church. It gave me great joy to see that the saints are so clear concerning the ground and the way of the church. We should have the assurance that after so many years of observing, listening, and learning, the saints are able to bear responsibility. We should be at peace to commit matters into their hands. The saints simply need a little guiding. As long as the co-workers and elders are willing to take the time and are determined to take this way, not only will they be able to produce capable ones, but they themselves will learn more. Teachers always learn more than their students. When we teach others, we learn more thoroughly. When we perfect others to become useful, we also become more useful.
The work, especially in East Asia, should mainly focus on large cities. We should not spread out to smaller places. Our commission from the Lord is to recover the testimony of the local churches in this age. We are not commissioned with a ministry of studying the Bible, a ministry of edifying people for the sake of spirituality, or with a ministry of preaching the gospel or doing an evangelistic work abroad. The commission that we have received from the Lord is to recover the testimony of the local churches. We must work out a strong and shining testimony of the local churches with a large number of believers. Such a testimony will allow the Lord to have more outlets.
However, we should not despise other Christians involved in other endeavors; rather, we should respect them. Whether or not they are willing to receive the ground of the church is not a problem. It is the Lord’s grace that some believers desire to preach the gospel among the aborigines. It is right that they go. Some believers are burdened to preach the gospel abroad, others desire to build up Bible-study groups, and still others are burdened for the growth in life. These activities are not in opposition to the commission that we have received from the Lord. Other believers can carry out their respective commissions, but our commission is to build up the church life in every locality. This testimony is not easy to work out, and the Lord did not commission us to do any other work. Hence, we must focus our energy on large and central places. In this way we will gain numerous people, and the testimony will be bright. The work must focus on central places.
We also need to work with students, and the co-workers who are manifested in the work should go abroad. However, this does not mean that they should move overseas and not return. While the co-workers are in Taiwan, they should help in the larger local churches. Every year they should spend nine months in Taiwan and three months abroad. At least a dozen co-workers should be able to go abroad. Some may spend a longer time abroad, maybe half a year. They will be able to work in coordination with the local churches domestically and overseas for the spread of the Lord’s testimony by training and producing useful ones.
The places abroad that need our help are Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Manila in the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia. Malaysia is divided into two areas: the center of one area is Penang, and the center of the other area is Sarawak. In addition, Thailand, mainly Bangkok, and Indonesia also need our help. Altogether there are nine places, and every place needs co-workers to render them help. We need a dozen brothers to take turns in bearing the work in these places. A co-worker who goes abroad should fellowship with the other co-workers when he returns. Through the fellowship it may be that when a co-worker returns, he visits the various local churches in Taiwan to supply the churches. Or he may remain in one large local church to serve there.
This arrangement of the co-workers spending time abroad will take care of the need by rendering a considerable amount of help. Moreover, it will not have a negative effect on the work in Taiwan; rather, it will be beneficial. The co-workers being away will give the local elders the opportunity to serve. I hope that all the co-workers will be perfected to go abroad. Taiwan has been the center of the work in Southeast Asia, but this does not mean that Taiwan controls the churches in other places. We must be clear that the work is regional, but the church is local. Every local church should take care of its own administration; however, the work, being regional, has a center. In the early days we considered Taiwan as the Jerusalem, the center, of the work. The co-workers should go out from here to labor in other places.
There are three kinds of work among the co-workers. The first kind of work is to serve in a local church, to help that church, by diligently training and perfecting the saints. The next kind of work is to go abroad and minister to, serve, the churches. The third kind of work is to visit local churches in Taiwan. The co-workers who serve in this way can be likened to a mobile support unit. They can visit a local church if there is a need, and then they can visit another local church if there is a need. The co-workers should spend their time to do these three kinds of work. Some co-workers may work only in a local church. Some co-workers may work in a local church and also set aside time to work abroad. Other co-workers will spend time laboring abroad and visiting the local churches in Taiwan that have a need. Only a few co-workers are needed in the third kind of work.
The co-workers who work in a local church should not replace the saints in their service; rather, they should work in coordination with the saints. The co-workers should help the saints, lead the saints, and raise up the saints. As the co-workers become skilled, they will be able to go abroad and serve. The nine places that we mentioned are open to the Lord’s recovery. They are willing to receive the help from the work.
The brothers in Indonesia sent an invitation, but they did not say that they need my help or ask me to spend time with them. They wrote to me, saying, “We would like to hand over the work in Indonesia completely to your ministry. All you need to do is to come and start the work, and later you can arrange for the co-workers to come. We will accept whatever arrangement you make. We would like to hand over this whole region to the work.” The brothers in Japan said the same, and the brothers in Hong Kong also said the same. Hence, the need abroad is great. But we cannot go immediately, because the churches in Taiwan are not ready to let the co-workers go. We must take one step at a time.
This fellowship is related to taking one step at a time. I hope that through this fellowship not only the co-workers but also the elders will understand our situation. Although the elders are not directly involved in the work, the work and the churches are the one testimony; they are intimately related. Hence, the elders also need to know the situation. I hope that when the elders return to their respective localities, they will fellowship with the local saints so that the saints know the development and the line of the Lord’s work. It is the Lord’s mercy that every region in East Asia, except mainland China, is open to us.
Presently, we do not have many co-workers who can go abroad. The co-workers must endeavor to learn in the word and in the building up of the church. The regions abroad are open to our work, so our sending the co-workers can be likened to sending our cargo. A co-worker’s work concerns all of us, not just him. We must not “ruin” the reputation of our cargo. When the co-workers go abroad, they must do a better job than they do in Taiwan; they must be able to help the churches. We should gain the trust of the saints, and we should be useful to the Lord.
All the local churches need our help, but we cannot meet the need by merely holding a two-week conference. The churches also realize that this way is of no avail. Hence, they do not invite itinerant preachers. The churches have learned the lesson and realize that giving a few messages might be of a little profit, but nothing is accomplished afterward. All the churches have entered into the stage of building. Hence, we must be diligent and dedicated and do a thorough work. The co-workers must be serious and learn, because the need abroad is great. When a co-worker is definitely manifested, we will be able to send him abroad to labor. However, we should do this gradually and take one step at a time. Presently, there are about a dozen co-workers who can go abroad. Most of them will go for three months, and a few can go for six months. I hope that the co-workers understand this need, pray for this, and fellowship with the elders in the local churches concerning this.
The development of the work in the Western Hemisphere depends on the Lord. We cannot send co-workers there. Perhaps some American brothers can go to the Philippines or Indonesia. However, it should be their responsibility to go to Europe. The door to Europe is open. The brothers in America can also go to New Zealand. If the brothers in America are willing to migrate to New Zealand, the New Zealand government will cover the expenses of their travel and relocation and will even give them a plot of land with a loan for them to farm it. It is easy for Americans to migrate to New Zealand. New Zealand has rich soil, good climate, and bountiful produce but a small population; it needs to be developed. However, New Zealand welcomes Caucasians more than any other race. The same applies to Australia. For this reason, the burden for New Zealand and Australia falls on the saints in America. Some American brothers should migrate there. Some saints have already moved to France. The burden for Europe, New Zealand, and Australia rests mainly with the American saints.
The work in East Asia is enough to keep us busy. Of course, this does not mean that the brothers in the East should not go to the West or that the brothers in the West should not come to the East. It is good to exchange co-workers between the East and the West, because this is a kind of fellowship and help. As we advance spiritually, the brothers in the West can come to help us, and we can also go to help them.
The churches in the East and the West are advancing because we share the same life and the same leading. As we come to understand and know one another more and as we also grow in life, there will be more traffic between the East and the West. Some co-workers in the East may go to the West, and some from the West may come to the East. Our present situation, however, does not allow this, and besides, the need is not yet that great. Hence, the co-workers here should use Taiwan as a base for their going to the places in East Asia for the spread of the work. I believe that this will surely bring in the blessing. I hope you will not feel that this burden is too heavy. We must be in one accord so that all the churches reap the benefit.
